The AVMA Council on Education had a follow-up hearing with the U.S. Department of Education’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity this past December to review the council’s compliance with USDE directives. The advisory committee outlined five areas for the COE to address, including a requirement that the COE do more to reach out to and communicate with practitioners.

AVMA

This July, Drs. Lori W. Teller and George M. Bishop will begin their terms as representatives from districts VIII and X, respectively, to the AVMA Board of Directors. They are the first Board members to serve four-year rather than six-year terms, as a result of a recent AVMA Bylaws amendment.

Issues

Most poultry sold in the U.S. could soon have to meet more stringent limits on the presence of Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria to avoid public scrutiny. A proposal published in January by the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service would establish new standards on the pathogens’ presence in chicken pieces and set lower limits in existing standards in ground chicken and ground turkey. By meeting the standards, poultry industries could prevent 50,000 illnesses each year.

Practice

The Food and Drug Administration is warning that bags of saline solution intended solely for simulation and training purposes may have been shipped to hospitals and clinics where they may be mistaken for sterile fluids intended for administration to patients. The contents of these training products are not sterile and should not be used in clinical patients, according to the agency.

Community

Dr. Nikki Wright and veterinary student Lisa Gretebeck have been named to Forbes’ prestigious list of innovators in health care for founding a nonprofit organization that’s taking a one-health approach to improving human and animal lives in the impoverished nation of Haiti.